1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a vehicular abnormality notification system that detects an abnormality in the state of a vehicle, and notifies it to a vehicle driver. More particularly, the invention relates to vehicular abnormality notification system, method and apparatus and a vehicle-mounted apparatus in which unnecessary notifications to the vehicle are prevented from being transmitted.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicular abnormality notification system that detects an abnormality in the state of a vehicle and notifies it to a vehicle driver is known (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-182281).
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-182281 discloses a system in which when a vehicle-mounted apparatus mounted in a vehicle detects an abnormality in the state of the vehicle, the vehicle-mounted apparatus transmits the abnormality information to a center, and the center transmits to the vehicle-mounted apparatus a mail informing of the occurrence of an abnormality and recommending that the vehicle be put into a service plant (hereinafter, simply referred to as “auto service information mail”).
However, in the system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-182281, even the removal of an ECU, a sensor, an actuator, etc., for the purpose of repair, maintenance, checking, or vehicle inspection or test at a repair plant of a dealer or the like is detected as an abnormality in the state of the vehicle, and the auto service information mail is transmitted.
The system disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-182281 is designed so that the auto service information mail based on the same abnormality information is not transmitted again until a predetermined time elapses following the transmission of the auto service information mail, or until the amount of change in the state of the vehicle becomes greater than a set value. However, this technique cannot prevent the initial transmission of the auto service information mail to the vehicle-mounted apparatus even in the case of authorized repair or the like as mentioned above.
There may be conceived a technique in which a switch that prohibits transmission of an abnormality detection report from the vehicle-mounted apparatus to the center is provided in the vehicle-mounted apparatus in such a manner that only experts are able to operate the switch, and at the time of authorized repair or the like, a person in charge of the repair is requested to operate the switch. However, such a technique dependent on human labor cannot remove the possibility of forgetting to perform the operation. Besides, at unaffiliated repair plants or the like, a person in charge of the repair may not be aware of the existence of the switch itself.